Gyeongnam Province Invites Design Companies Leading Product Innovation!

Support for 167 Small and Medium Enterprises in the Province

Providing Ideas through Consulting and Development

Gyeongsangnam-do and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion's Gyeongnam Design-Driven Manufacturing Innovation Center are recruiting participants for a support project for design companies in the province.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gyeongsangnam-do and the Korea Institute of Design Promotion's Gyeongnam Design-Led Manufacturing Innovation Center are recruiting companies that will create new growth engines for local businesses using industrial design until April 15.

This year, Gyeongnam Province plans to support 152 companies through the Gyeongnam Design-Led Manufacturing Innovation Support Project, 10 companies through the Small and Medium Enterprise Design Development Support Project, and 5 companies through the Industry-Academia Cooperation Eco-Friendly Design Development Support Project.

Companies selected for the Gyeongnam Design-Led Manufacturing Innovation Support Project, targeting small and medium enterprises in the province, will receive design consulting for product capability analysis and strategy discovery.

Customized support for new product development for material, parts, and core technology companies, consulting and commercialization support for product mass production, and promotion for product distribution and marketing are also provided.

The program is structured in stages so that manufacturing companies can first apply for design consulting and then receive support for the next steps based on the results.

This year, a commercialization support program such as working mock-ups capable of mechanical design, assembly, and operation, as well as mold design, has been prepared for excellent companies with customized demand from the previous year.

The Small and Medium Enterprise Design Development Support Project selects companies producing excellent products locally but lacking marketing capabilities and supports product packaging design.

It supports design development including graphics, colors, logos based on product and market research, design application, and marketing strategies, and conducts joint design development for three months through portfolios of separately selected design specialist companies.

The Industry-Academia Cooperation Eco-Friendly Design Development Support Project targets small and medium-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies that need to develop eco-friendly and sustainable products reflecting the trend of value consumption for the environment.

Selected companies receive creative ideas based on eco-friendly products and technologies from 20 teams led by industrial design major universities and students in the province, and among the 20 ideas, 5 teams selected for excellent designs will have the opportunity to produce physical design prototypes.

Small and medium enterprises or design specialist companies wishing to participate in the project can check the announcement on the Gyeongsangnam-do website or the Korea Institute of Design Promotion website and apply.

A provincial official said, “Design is increasingly important as it leads all stages of product development beyond just improving product appearance. We will do our best to foster and discover design innovation companies by cooperating with local small and medium enterprises, industrial design universities, and related institutions.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.